Archive for June, 2006
Today in Joystiq: June 30, 2006
Joystiquery
Ad critic: Superman made by super people
News
Project Hacker Kakusei; Uplink for your DS
Prey Demo now available on Xbox Live
Japanese hardware sales, 19 June - 25 June: the bigger they are
Kojima wants a “PS3 with controls like the Wii”
Wes Craven pondering games career
Japanese devs react tepidly to post-E3 PS3
Sony launches EU PS3 website
Red Steel developer’s blog goes live
Rumors & Speculation
Toshiba man hints at internal HD-DVD 360 (debunked)
Culture
Nintendo pipe organ goodness
Mario gets canned
Transformers teaser arrives early
Henry Jenkins has a blog (and a new book)
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Toshiba Exec: Internal HD-DVD Coming to 360
Toshiba is predicting that an Xbox 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive will hit stores by the end of the year, according to Australia’s ITWire.
A Toshiba higher-up told the site that he expects Microsoft will be making some sort of announcement “fairly soon.” Keep in mind, this is just the opinion of one general manager over at Toshiba, which has a bit of a stake in HD-DVD. While I don’t doubt that an HD-DVD Xbox 360 is a possibility, I would think that Microsoft would test waters with their external drive first. Why rush in to a very unpredictable format war with so little to gain?
Microsoft to release HD DVD Xbox in 2006: Toshiba exec [IT Wire, via 1Up]
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Related: No 360 Price Drop Because of HD DVD Drive?
Fight Kur and the Ko-Dan Armada!
The Last Starfighter was the first movie I can remember seeing that ever made the point that doofuses like Jack Thompson would spend most of their careers yammering on about: video games are kill simulators. In the case of The Last Starfighter, skills learned in a trailer park arcade are directly applicable to intergalactic conflict.
Get good enough? Centauri will whisk down from outer space in a DeLorean, sneeze his face into a handkerchief and zoom you right up to the stars to make out with bald babes and be the last hope of the Alliance.
Anyway, it’s been twenty years since Alex beat back Kur and the Ko-Dan Armada, but the Alliance probably still needs pilots, and let’s face it: outer space has to beat this dump. So thanks to Scott P. for making us aware of this faithful remake of The Last Starfighter game, as seen in the movie.
Personal note: this was the first movie my Mom ever took me to see. She let me play ‘hooky’ from preschool that day. I sent her this link; she’s no gamer, but she cooed.
The Last Starfighter Remake [RogueSynapse]
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Related: How Scary, Wes Craven Making A Video Game
Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments
Cyrus Does Not Dig It; Sues the Daylights Outta Take-Two
“Rockstar… come out and pay-yay!
Sorry. Somebody had to do it.”
by David Rudden
Kaz Hirai Says Msoft Copies Sony
“This is getting ridiculous - corporations name-calling like a bunch of bratty 3rd graders. Nintendo sort of started it this round, but I suppose that’s to be expected since Sony took their lunch money.
Of course corporations copy each other. Leaders innovate, followers improve (if they can). That’s a natural business cycle. One would have to be a fool in business to “come up with some strategies of [one's] own” every time - as if Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft has some sort of “dibs” on a business strategy.
Just like in 3rd grade, the name-calling is probably out of fear and insecurity more than anything. What’s next? Is Iwata going to grab Kutaragi by the pigtails? Is Gates going to pass love letters to Iwata (”Do you like me? Pick one [] yes [] no [] wiii!”)?
I guess you kinda have to be a kid to run a video game company, but it would be nice if they picked more mature kids.”
by weatherman
PS3 Games Bling-Bling Expensive?
“Anybody else think that the gaming industry is a bubble ready to pop? Games and consoles are getting so expensive that only people that consider gaming as a life style and not a hobby can keep up.
On my families income, there just isn’t enough around after we pay bills. A house, two cars, a baby, two cats, basic cable, heating/cooling, taxes, taxes on taxes, we only have a few bucks a week to put into savings.
There is just no way I could buy a 360 or a PS3, and build a library of $60-$90 games. It simply can’t be done.”
by Rayzak
Counterpoint: LocoRoco Not Racist
“People see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe.
They’ll assign meanings, based on their own emotions, experiences and personality.
‘Quickest way to not please anyone, is to try and please everyone’.
I come from a design background, having worked on LARGE Unesco products (google them). I’ve worked in Uganda and other such locations.
LocoRoco is not racist.
The imagry created in the game, is not racist in intent.
It is an unhappy coincidence, that some people insist on assigning labels where they find them.
And of course, some major news network will pick the original article up on radar, and make a big fuss.
End result: Another batch of people, easily influenced, will believe racism actually still exists.
And so, the cycle continues.”
by Miktar Ezekiel Dracon
“I’d say that the game also promotes male rape. Look at what the big yellow thing’s doing in that picture.”
by Sockatume
Do You Want To Do More With Your Console Than Just Game?
“I am a gamer. I’m here for the game. Everything else is just fluff.
If I want to watch a movie, I have a whole system dedicated to doing that. I also have a slew of PCs around that are up to the task. I have MP3 playback on my PC, laptop, MP3 player, Treo, etc. I don’t need MP3 playback in my game system too. I have a digital camera, a phone camera, a webcam, etc. Do I really need another camera on my game system?
I’m a gamer. I’m here to game.”
by Kamalot
Have a big mouth? What about big fingers to type big words? Hit us up at tips@kotaku.com and say your share.
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Related: Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments
Related: Sponsors Thanks
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Decent Odds for a DS Lite Prize Pack
This is it, the last day to enter to win either the DS Lite WiFi pack or the DS Lite Black pack. Remember, if you entered any of our Friday Night Lite contests this month, including this week’s, you will automatically entered into the giveaway for the grand prize.
The grand prize comes with: Black DS Lite (from Ireland), DS Lite case, New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Super Princess Peach, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Brain Age, Electroplankton, Sudoku Gridmaster, Magnetica, Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (GBA)
This week’s contest comes with: Polar White DS Lite, DS Lite case, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Metroid Prime Hunters.
You have until midnight tonight EST to enter this week’s contest. Hit the link for the details. So far only 71 people have answered the question correctly, so decent odds.
DS Lite and WiFi Game Pack Give-Away
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Nintendo pipe organ goodness
Filed under: Culture
If you’re into Bowser anthems and pipe organs, then today is your lucky day. Follow the link and watch Harold Rodriguez from the University of Florida rock several Nintendo related themes on a nice fatty pipe organ. Best if listened to on a nice, loud stereo.
[via 4cr]
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PS3 Preorders in Germany for $743
Digital Battle is reporting that MediaMarkt, a German retailer, is taking pre-orders on the 60GB PS3 for €600, or around $765. They seem a bit astonished by the price, but note that you’ll get a free game: Formula 1, Motorstorm, SingStar or Genji.
Mark my words: €600 is exactly what the PS3 is going to sell for in Europe. People who don’t know exactly how hard Europeans get boned on games and console always just try to translate the US price into the stronger currency at whatever the current exchange rate is, then maybe rounding it up a bit. This is not how it works: companies instead translate by assuming that one dollar is equal to one euro when pricing for European release. Considering a dollar is worth €0.79 or thereabouts, it’s a big price jack.
Why do they assume a 1:1 currency rate? Well, partly, it’s because of Value Added Tax built into the price of products, which is about 20%. Since the disparity between the dollar and the euro is currently around 20% in favor of the Euro, selling a $599 product for €599 probably seems fair, except that companies are supposed to be swallowing the V.A.T. tax themselves, not bumping the price up for consumers. But that almost never happens.
And sometimes, as in the case of the European DS Lite release, the cost of the system (even at a hypothetical 1:1 exchange rate) is even more than it is in the States. Yup. We get boned.
PS3 Pre-order In Germany. $765. Seriously. [Digital Battle]
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Related: PS3 Controller is a P.O.O.S.
Related: PS3 and Wii Sizes Contrasted in Cardboard
Related: Sony To Pay $243M in Japanese Back Taxes
Project Hacker Kakusei; Uplink for your DS
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Adventure, Puzzle
An intriguing television commercial for a Japanese game called Project Hacker: Kakusei, a title for the DS that closely resembles the innovative hacking title Uplink, has popped up on the internets. The game will place you in the role of Satoru, a detective with an organization called the GIS, for which you will have to face hacking-themed puzzles like password cracking. The commercial demonstrates effective use of the stylus combined with Uplink-style hacking, along with elements similar to Phoenix Wright’s detective style and 2D anime artwork; hopefully the developers plan to emulate Ace Attorney’s over-the-top dialog and light-hearted premise too.
According to IGN’s page on Project Hacker, the title was announced in October ‘05 when it was originally called Detect Hacker. It’s being produced by Nintendo and developed by Red Entertainment and is due for release in Japan before the year is out. I couldn’t find anything online about an English localization, so unfortunately we must assume that this is going to remain exclusive to Japan for now. With a little luck (and some pressure from you guys–for a start, the game’s wiki page could do with some work), that will change.
[Thanks, Miyamootoo and Ben for the YouTube link]
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The Nintendo DS Genesis
French modder Kotomi has unveiled his latest creation: a DS fatty modded to look like a Sega Genesis. A clever mash-up and as always, magnifique!
More Here [le blog de kotomi]
Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria
A treat awaits you at the endgame.
The Best Games of the Year so Far
It’s apparently never too early to come out with a list for the best games of the year. The Merc News’ Mike Antonucci points out that there have already been enough good games released this year to fill the list, well nearly.
His list:
1. Kingdom Hearts II
2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
3. Fight Night Round 3
4. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
5. Tetris DS
6. The DS Lite
7. Black
8. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
9. Field Commander
10. Electroplankton
I guess it has been a pretty good year so far, and we’ve still got two system launches to look forward to. What games are you most looking forward to?
The Best Games [Mercury News]
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Related: Even Japanese Devs Wary of PS3
Related: PS3 Preorders in Germany for $743
Related: PS3 Controller is a P.O.O.S.
Even Japanese Devs Wary of PS3
So what does the Japanese game developing community think of the PS3? The latest issue of Japan’s Ge-Maga asked a number of questions; the polls are in. It’s not looking too great.
• 90.29% of Japanese developers think the PS3 is too expensive. One developer: “It’s more expensive than my rent.”
• 56.31% hate Sony’s two SKUs. “There are fears that confusion will develop amongst users and retailers.”
• 55.82% don’t think the launch title line-up will sell the system.
• 62.13% of all game devs think that the PS3 won’t sell 6 million units by March, 2007. Um, yeah. No duh. That’s because Sony’s not going to be able to make that many.
I don’t really mind continuing to beat up on Sony, but my fists, man, they’re starting to get tired.
Japanese Negative on PS3 [IGN]
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Related: PS3 Preorders in Germany for $743
Related: PS3 Controller is a P.O.O.S.
Related: PS3 and Wii Sizes Contrasted in Cardboard
Shoddy PS2 Slim Rip-Off With Cool Gun
These knock-offs look kinda like the PS2 Slim. Complete with squares and triangles, the controllers are reminiscent of a Sony product. Heck, they’re even black.
Unfortunately these 14-in-1 game machines are in a U.F.O. Catcher in a crappy Japanese game center and are called “FANSTATION.” Don’t we mean “FUNSTATION”? Maybe not. Do check out that pistol peripheral, though. Fake as hell, but real enough to knock over a liquor store.
Gallery after the jump.
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Related: Nintendo FINALLY Opens Korean Branch
“Play Station” Is Japanese for “Sex Station”
Tripping through Kyobashi, on the way from the Docomo shop. The area is seedy. Homeless men lay passed out in doorways, and salarymen duck into openings covered by wispy curtains. Pink signs dot the terrain.
A place of business catches my eye. “PlayStation” it says in English. The door is shuttered.
Above “PlayStation”, a sign reads “Muryou Annaisho” (”Free Information Office”). Console gaming is the last kind of information you can get here. It’s pretty blunt what kind of info they’re supplying. Prostitution may be illegal, but this isn’t prostitution. This is “health“.
I take out my camera, when a man in different colored slippers stumbles up. He’s drinking vending machine sake. It’s not even noon.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a picture.”
“Why are you taking a picture of that?
“Is that alright?”
“Strange.”
“I know.”
I snap off a few pictures. The man with different colored slippers is sipping his vending machine sake. I put away my camera and make a beeline for the station. He still stands there, watching me the entire time. Muryou Annaisho.
Xbox 360 for $350
Dell’s running a special over on their site right now, offering the Xbox 360 premium box for $360, another $10 off at checkout and free shipping. Sounds like a deal to me.
You can also save a few dollars here and there on a slew of 360 accessories like the wireless network adapter ($10 off), the wireless controller ($5 off) and some games (several $6 off.).
Clearing stock for a new sku, price drop in prep for the coming of the Wii and PS3 or just a sale? Who cares, it’s a cheap(er) 360.
Xbox 360 Console [Dell, via Xboxic]
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Related: The Wii Power Supply Is Wee-Sized
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PS3 Controller is a P.O.O.S.
The newest, frankly incredible trademark to be taken by a gaming company? Sony Japan has trademarked the PS3 controller as “P oo S”.
No rumble. Tilt controls that Somerset Maugham might have described as ‘craptacular’? We think Sony made a typo of an extra ‘o’ in their patent application form.
Or the alternate theory: the double ‘o’ represents the dual analog sticks in the same way that the double ‘i’ in Wii represents two Wiimotes. Also, infinity, I guess. I like my explanation better.
Sony Trademarks PS3 Controller [Digital Battle]
Prey Demo now available on Xbox Live
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters
Major Nelson kindly informed us that the Xbox Live servers are hosting a brand new chunk of code. At last, Xbox 360 owners get the opportunity to explore Human Head’s topsy-turvy alien abductee sim, Prey. Contained within the 1.17GB demo (well over the 449MB PC version), you’ll find a first-person shooter tinged with insanity and laced with opportunities to shoot yourself in the back. It’s not often we get to play a corridor-crawler where the walls vomit body parts, your grenades attempt to bite you and the gravity behaves like it’s trapped within some sort of interstellar tumble dryer. It’s also not often that we get a Live demo on a Friday — must be more alien meddling.
Grab the demo and be sure to let us know what you think. Please note that the demo is not available in the regions of Germany or Japan, so folks living there won’t get to prey it right away (sorry).
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Link and Triforce Tat
After checking out the picture of the Earthbound tattoo we ran earlier this week, Morgan decided to send us a pic of his twin game-related tats. The first is an image of the triforce and the second, an 816-bit Link. Nice.
PS3 and Wii Sizes Contrasted in Cardboard
Seeing these pictures of a papercraft Wii next to a papercraft PS3 is the final nail in the coffin: I’m not buying a PS3. I know I’ve said that before, but there were certain factors that could have changed my mind. Winning the lottery was one; Sony releasing an interactive Fleshlight peripheral was another.
But jeezum crowe, would you just look at that thing? It’s bigger than a lunar buggy. The only way I can even imagine fitting that into my living room is by jettisoning my couch. So unless Sony releases an upholstered model that I can actually sit on, I’m going to have to pass. Not because of any prejudice against Sony… goodness, no! Obviously, they’ve made all the right moves this generation. It’s purely an issue of Feng Shui.
The Wii, on the other hand? Fruity name aside… DAY ONE.
Wii vs. PS3: Fight!! [4CR]
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Japanese hardware sales, 19 June - 25 June: the bigger they are
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PSP, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360
… the harder they fall. The Japanese population’s brief rekindling of their romance with the DS Phat, showing a massive 1559% increase in sales last week, seems to have died out for now. Our obese friend takes the sharpest fall this week, with slimmer, trimmer machines like the Game Boy Micro and DS Lite faring better. The ranking, according to number of units sold:
- DS Lite: 157,022 
15,535 (10.98%)
- PS2: 25,467 4,730 (22.81%)
- PSP: 24,737 84 (0.34%)
- DS Phat: 10,132 
12,616 (55.46%)
- GBA SP: 3,784 858 (18.48%)
- Game Boy Micro: 1,502 208 (16.07%)
- Gamecube: 1,197 195 (19.46%)
- Xbox 360: 1,169 238 (16.92%)
- GBA: 25 5 (25.00%)
- Xbox: 10 5 (33.33%)
The rest of the chart seems intentionally unremarkable, with the Lite reigning on top and the spinless Xbox sweeping the ground floor. Very soon, it will be expected to clean up the explosion of confetti and glitter accompanying the launch of the Noble Pink DS Lite.
[Source: Media Create]
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